[swarnava.ch]

Great Review and honestly have been waiting for this one for a long time.
The car looks awesome in this RED colour with dual tone block roof as well as the all black Dark Edition.
Just a small point that recently there was a sighting for a Harrier in Test guise along with a Gravitas. So I see no point of testing a Harrier unless it’s the rumoured Petrol model.
Hopefully it comes sooner than later.

AWD is definitely a missed opportunity. However small number it does, it gives some brownie points for marketing and sales.

[NiInJa]

The Harrier to me is the spiritual successor of the Safari, something you can fantasize about all night ! I liked the darker shade.
Good to see most issues resolved, hope this translates to better sales numbers.

I am having a conflict with myself whether Tata got a bit lucky by launching the car a year before. Not sure how it would have made an impact if they launched it during these tough Covid times. Anyways, this discussion is not material now as whatever done is done.

[steadfast]

Thank you Aditya and GTO for reviewing this beast and assuring buyers who were skeptical about Harrier. A great crisp review indeed. ��

Thanks to Tata for addressing niggles and making Harrier amongst the most desirable in segment with this 2020 version.

A quick question - Has the quality of rear camera improved in this version?

Would request a further detailed review on 2 factors -

A.) Usability of terrain modes on Harrier. Specially, how much are they better than a normal 2WD car and how much do they fall short of a 4WD.

B.) DEF experience (clogging, refill and action taken on clogging in unfortunate situations) segmented into pure urban, urban-highway mix and pure highway.

I hope TATA includes following for 2021 Harrier -
1. Petrol engine.
2. Middle seat headrest.
3. Better quality rear camera if not improved in this.
4. Better usable and sliding front arm rest.
5. In built TPMS
6. Inbuilt front parking sensors
7. Rear window blinds or UV cut glass or heavy tinted windows as recent VW and Skoda cars.
8. Reclining rear seats
9. 360 camera
10. Wider screen by shrinking current bezels.

Thanks!

[kamilharis]

Thanks for the crisp and short review Aditya.

Harrier is the car now which most of the enthusiasts wish to own, similar to what the TATA Safari was before. No-one really hates it now, and everyone wishes to see a Black/Red Harrier parked in front of his house.

Only thing that might be keeping those people who are ready to spend on a Harrier away from buying it might be the poor hit or miss A.S.S.

Mods, we would have loved if more pics of the red hawt Harrier was added.

[venkyhere]

One thing which caught my attention is how 'narrower' the peak torque spread of T-DIESEL engines in this segment is, w.r.t the T-PETROL engines on offer in the same cars. Never imagined diesels being tuned to be more 'peaky' than petrols. Of course diesels have the higher peak torque, but usually they have a larger peak torque spread too. This is from the table in the beginning of this review -

engine peak-torque-spread

T-Diesels
2.0 MJD FCA 750 rpm
1.5 CRDI hyundai 1250 rpm
2.2 mHawk M7M 1050 rpm

T-Petrols
1.4 GDI hyundai 1700 rpm
1.5 turbo petrol MG 2000 rpm
1.4 MultiAir FCA 1750 rpm (not in the table but known from elsewhere)

Was a bit of a surprise for me, normally I would expect the other way around.

Originally Posted by SahilS

Thanks for the fantastic review Aditya.
However I would like to point out one thing. Ground clearance in BS6 Harrier is reduced by 23 mm due to addition of DEF tank. Laden GC has gone down from 176 mm to 153 mm. So unladen GC would have gone down by 23 mm too(182 mm now from previous 205 mm)
page from 2019 Harrier vs 2020 Harrier user manual:

alternator has also been beefed up - probably for the sake of the additional sunroof motor.

[deadlifts26]

Thankfully, the head-unit didn't hang like it had in our test car from 2019. But it still had a bug. GTO was listening to music really loud and got a call. After answering the call, he hung up and all the volumes went low. Not only did the music’s max volume output at level 30 decrease, but even the voice prompts that you get (e.g. "sport mode activated") went lower. Weird - check it out in the video. This was sorted after restarting the car. The 2nd bug we faced with the Harrier was, after parking it overnight, the driver's door request sensor didn't work in the morning. GTO had to use the smartkey's unlock button to open the door. While we didn't see as many bugs as in 2019, the presence of 2 bugs in 2 days is discomforting:

https://youtu.be/c4J5bEonYFc

The head unit used in the Harrier has issues. A relative of mine has the '19 Dark Edition. At times, the bluetooth doesn't connect easily with his phone. Despite taking the vehicle multiple times to the service centre, the issue keeps cropping up randomly. Additionally, the battery of the car stopped functioning within just 4500 kms. Apparently it was due to keeping the vehicle on accessory mode for a while. The vehicle refused to start and the MID showed 'ESP/ESC failed'(not sure if this was the exact message). Quite surprising since a vehicle of this size shouldn't consume the battery at an alarming rate. Called up the TATA Road Assist, they couldn't start the car by using an independent battery. Ultimately had to connect the battery terminals on my i10 to the Harrier to start it.

The battery incident was unsettling, how could a vehicle hardly run for 5000 kms drain the battery that easily on accessory mode ?

Hopefully such issues are taken care of.

[DieselAnna]

This was my most awaited review since the launch of the car. As seen, most of the niggles have been taken care and only few rough edges are left now.
Personally, for me Harrier is the most intimidating car on the road right now and boy, it'll turn heads for sure.

I am looking to TD the car soon and I was hoping that Tata would price the Harrier just above the Seltos/Hector. They have to be realistic here to get the numbers. Otherwise, people would just go for Seltos/Creta below Harrier and Innova/Compass against the Harrier.

However, I don't think there is much of a difference in owning a Tata or a Fiat in today's age with respect to service.

[anshu1101]

The Harrier is a genuinely desirable product from Tata. Had taken a test drive, and I came back very impressed.

The added 30 PS does make a perceptible difference and combined with the smooth AT gearbox, it was a breeze in the city limits. The massive sunroof is a welcome addition and takes the overall experience a notch higher. Other small but significant changes like addition of an IRVM adds to the overall experience. Found the straight line stability to be impressive, although I did feel some amount of vertical movement (a little too much for my comfort) over undulating surfaces. The other qualm is the heavy steering at crawling speeds as outlined in the review.

Nevertheless, the Harrier makes an excellent tourer with the ability to do some mild off-roading. I just wish Tata gives the option of an AWD - that will make it a solid all-rounder.

[AnandB]

I had low volume issues on my Santa Fe with a Sony XAV-AX1000 stereo fitted. I think it is more of a issue of mobile and its bluetooth communication to other device than the stereo unit. This is something that should definitely be tested with different mobiles. But if it happens in aux mode then ofcourse its a unit issue.

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

It looks absolutely fantastic although I am not a fan of the stock alloys still.

.

The alloys remind me of some old american/japanese sedans from the 80s and 90s, but still looks polished.

Doesn't match with the latest design trends.

But its definitely miles better than the previous one!

[ramnaresh_2000]

Great review, thanks for sharing. I really loved Harrier and recommended it to my dad who was looking to replace his Renault Scala, Harrier was just launched and went to Tata Showroom to check it out.

Really hated below

• Huge blind spot
• Clutch play is too long
• Diesel noise was too loud
• Was not able to find a comfortable seating position
• Thick bezels on touch screen

This lead him to go with Creta and he is very happy with his decision.

Now with refreshed 2020 version, Tata has handled all these issues. However, my dad still is not convinced with the idea of me buying it now. Tata has done too less too late and lost so many potential customers.

Wish Tata has crash tested this, maybe another 5* vehicle will boost their sales.

[PrasannaDhana]

That is a great review!

I know the Harrier has the underpinnings of Land rover and is one very handsome car to look at. Now that it comes with the Fiat's 2.0 diesel engine with the same powerful tune as the Jeep Compass and with the much anticipated automatic transmission, it becomes a much more desirable product than it was before.

But help me understand, I have been to Tata dealer last year for checking out the harrier. This is what I felt :

1. Great presence
2. The car was spacious and the seats were very supportive
3. The 140 PS Fiat's 2.0 felt a lot more noisier and slower than the 156 PS 2.2 Varicor 400 in my Storme. The engine noise beyond 100 kmph would have been the deal breaker for me if I had to buy a car that time.
4. Though the car was a good package, it felt a bit overpriced when compared to the very competent Hexa from the same shop

Okay let's forget the Hexa. I happened to check the Nexon diesel right after and I was surprised.

Nexon was actually spacious for a sub 4m car. The NVH was pretty tolerable and the 1.5 diesel wasn't as vocal as the 2.0 diesel in harrier. The seats though not as good as the harrier, was still very comfortable. The interiors too were decent. And the highway performance of the Nexon felt better (maybe not as noisy as the 2.0 at speeds and hence I perceived it to be so). Only drawback if I had to nitpick would have been the ride quality which wasn't as plush as the harrier in slower speeds. And the Nexon was substantially more fuel efficient (sorry, I am one of those with heavy daily usage).

The first thought I had when I drove out of the showroom was this-

Harrier is just a little more spacious, a little more comfortable, a little plusher to ride, has a more powerful engine which was noisier too, has slightly better interiors. But credit where it is due - it is built on Land Rover platform, looks fantastic and has more airbags than the Nexon. But then, Nexon is a 5 star rated car too and the updated model looks cool for the most part, though not as attractive as the harrier.

As a customer, I would rather spend 12 lakhs and buy the Nexon instead of spending twice and getting a marginally better SUV.

No offence to owners, it is just me. I am not an automatic guy nor do I care about sunroofs. A Nexon satisfies the need of majority of us looking at a 5 seater car. I do understand it is an affordability game, but my question is, is Harrier worth 200% as much as the Nexon?

To the people who believe 170 PS 2.0 engine to be substantially faster than the 110 PS 1.5 diesel on the highway, think again. I drive the 156 PS Storme and it's a plague with Tata that their SUVs are overweight by 300 kilos. All that additional power just gets waster on lugging the extra weight.

I felt harrier was overpriced, particularly after spending time in the Nexon and Hexa. Apologies if someone took this comparison to heart. As a buyer, I don't care much about segmentation of the cars as much I care about the car meeting my needs.

If I didn't mind spending and need an AT, I would rather spend 20 lakhs on the Seltos/Creta, which are much more sophisticated, faster and refined.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

I do understand it is an affordability game, but my question is, is Harrier worth 200% as much as the Nexon?

As a customer, I would rather spend 12 lakhs and buy the Nexon instead of spending twice and getting a marginally better SUV.

+1.

I had the same thoughts when I went to checkout the updated Nexon recently, when we bought our Ecosport. Nexon appears to be sorted in almost every area for the price it commands (The pre-facelift one moreso, but that is another topic for discussion).
For Harrier, one has to make compromises in many areas.

[Shreyas_H]

This is a fantastic review.

I for one am glad to see that Tata has made so many improvements after faltering at the launch last year. Goes to show that they are taking feedback seriously. Of course, feel sorry for those who put their money and trust at the first iteration and became sort of beta testers for the Harrier. (Tata why don't you offer a free remap to 170ps to them to reward their loyalty?)
When buying cars, it's always a head vs heart decision - a lot of people will feel that some of the existing niggles / shortcomings are enough to take this car out of their consideration set, but for me personally the Harrier really tugs at the heartstrings in a way that no Creta/Seltos can

Clearly the sales chart tell me that others don't base their car buying decisions this way!

I wish the best to Tata and hope this car sees a lot of well deserved success coming their way.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

As a customer, I would rather spend 12 lakhs and buy the Nexon instead of spending twice and getting a marginally better SUV.

Prasanna, there is a saying "No one ever needs a car over 10 lakhs". Beyond that price point, it is all about want & desire, not need. My parents saw their entire lives till the age of 60 in Padminis & Ambassadors (equivalent of ~6 lakh rupee cars today).

Now, let's not take the thread off-topic please.